Having three or more abortions 'raises risk of premature birth and life-threatening problems in future pregnancies'

Risk: Repeated abortions can make future pregnancies problematic, a study has found

Having repeat abortions can raise the risk of life-threatening problems for future pregnancies, according to a study.

Women who had three or more were up to three times more likely to have a future baby early – even before 28 weeks in the womb – and of a poor weight.

Those who had two abortions before their first child also had a greater chance of giving birth prematurely.

Babies who are born early, particularly by three months or more, and with a low weight often need special hospital care to ensure their survival.

The research is likely to fuel the debate over repeat abortions now that evidence has emerged of potential harm to babies born subsequently.

Figures show thousands of teenagers are having repeat abortions, with some ending at least eight pregnancies.

Out of 38,269 having terminations in England and Wales in 2010, 5,300 had already had at least one.

The study, published in the medical journal Human Reproduction, found that of 300,858 Finnish mothers, 31,083 had one abortion between 1996-2008, 4,417 had two, and 942 had three or more abortions before a first birth.

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Those who had had three or more abortions had an increased risk of four problems affecting their first child, compared with women who had had no abortions.

They had an almost threefold risk of having the baby before 28 weeks.They also had double the risk of very low birthweight (3lb 5oz). There was a slightly increased risk of premature birth for women who had had two abortions.

Higher rate: The risk of giving birth prematurely increased by 35 per cent among women who had multiple abortions in the past

Lead researcher Dr Reija Klemetti, of the National Institute for Health and Welfare in Helsinki, said the increased risk was ‘very small, particularly after only one or even two abortions, and women should not be alarmed’.

‘Furthermore, this is an observational study and, however large and well-controlled, it only shows there is a link between abortion and some adverse birth outcomes - it cannot prove that abortions are the cause.’

However, she urged young girls to be told of the possible harms linked to repeat abortions.

The study - published in Human Reproduction - also showed an increased risk of a baby’s death around the time of birth, but the researchers say this could be because of social factors such as poverty.

Dr Klemetti said: ‘Our study is the first large study to look at a broad set of perinatal outcomes and to control, at least partly, for the most important confounding factors such as smoking and socioeconomic position.

‘However, it is important to say that even though we adjusted for these factors, and also ectopic pregnancies and miscarriages, there might be some confounding for social class that we could not control for.

‘Most probably, this may be related to women’s (or some of these women’s) way of life, life habits, and sexual and reproductive health.’